Florida Woman Charged With Stealing $170,000 From RV Employer

Steffani Lariscy has been arrested on a warrant for grand theft by the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office for stealing from Robbins Camper Sales in Ormond Beach one year after her boss at noticed a discrepancy on bank statements and contacted law enforcement. Lariscy allegedly stole $170,000 from her employer in order to buy herself breast implants, among other luxuries. An anonymous tipster called in CrimeStoppers to report that Lariscy often bragged about having a lot of cash in her home, had just bought a whole house of new furniture, and recently spent $7,000 on breast implants.

Jacksonville theft charges expose the accused to a range of possible punishments depending on the severity of circumstances surrounding the theft and value of the theft. For example, if an individual stole 100,000.00 dollars or more, or damaged property (over 1,000.00) when committing the theft, an individual can be charged with a first degree felony. In this case, Lariscy has been charged with first-degree grand theft because she has been accused of stealing more than $100,000.

Many times, those arrested for Grand Theft in Jacksonville, either felony or misdemeanor, will be offered “time served” for the charge, or in other words, being convicted of the crime, but not serving any more time than one already has or might have served during the time one has spent in the justice system. This option leaves the accused highly tempted to resolve the case quickly without serving jail time.

However, there are some detriments that one should consider before pursuing this option. Such an action can lead to a conviction that will leave that theft arrest on your record permanently without the option of having the case sealed or expunged. Furthermore, some theft charges may result in the suspension of one’s driving privileges. Also, a felony theft conviction will be viewable to any potential employer as a crime of dishonesty which would lead most employers to not hire one for a job. This disclosure must be made to one’s future employers for the rest of one’s life, making steady employment difficult to obtain.

There are some important defenses to grand theft in situations like Lariscy’s involving theft from a retail store. One of these defenses is equal ownership. A co-owner of property cannot be held guilty of the grand theft of such property unless the other co-owner has a superior legal interest that authorizes the withholding of the property. In a situation like this, if one is a co-owner of a store who actually owns the property in a store, one cannot steal from the store itself, because one has ownership interest in the property. However, if the other co-owner has superior interest, or majority interest, in the property, one may not take the property.

The other major defense in grand theft from a retail employer is that what one took is valueless. Simply put, it is impossible to steal trash. Florida law only criminalizes the stealing of “property.” Property is defined as “anything of value” and the value is defined as “the market value of property at the time and place of the offense or, if such cannot be satisfactorily ascertained, the cost of replacement of the property within a reasonable time after the offense.” Many times, employees are caught taking supplies, boxes, and other belongings that were from the store they work for, but have now been set out by the dumpster. Simply put, if one’s employer places empty boxes out, it has become trash that presumably has no value, and one cannot be charged with the theft of that item.

If one obtains an experienced Jacksonville theft crimes defense attorney , one will have a strong chance of obtaining a favorable outcome, and will have the best defenses to what one is accused of, helping one get through the legal system, possibly without any conviction whatsoever. One should not risk one’s chances on a judge’s good nature. One should obtain a sure help for the future.

The Forbess Law Firm has been aiding clients who face criminal charges in Jacksonville for more than a decade and are here to provide aggressive criminal defense to anyone accused of a crime. If you or a loved one require a Jacksonville criminal defense lawyer, contact our firm today. We are available through our website or by calling us at 904-634-0900.